1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to manipulation of text on a display.
2. Description of Related Art
Graphical user interfaces utilized with current computer systems typically incorporate a method to highlight text on a display. For example, a word processor permits a user to select text on a display by holding down an input device, such as a mouse button, and dragging a cursor over the text to be highlighted. In order to give feedback to the user about what text is selected, the word processor highlights the selected text on the display. Conventionally, the color of either the text, the background behind the text, or both are changed.
The color used for highlighting text can be important to a user, and most computer systems permit the user to select the color of the highlighted text. The highlighted text should stand out enough to allow the user to rapidly find the highlighted text on a busy display. Yet, the highlighted text should not stand out so much that the user's eye is distracted from other display elements that are also important for other tasks. For example, when a large amount of display area is taken up by highlighted text, a vivid highlight color can be too distracting. However, when a single letter is highlighted, a moderate to light highlight color can be too hard to see.